The weight debate: Mischa Barton attacked for being too fat...Seriously?

I was shocked to find out that Mischa Barton has been ordered to lose 10 pounds (roughly 4.5 kg) for the role in her new TV show The Beautiful Life. Instead of her usual skin-and-bones-look, Mischa has actually started to look relatively healthy lately after putting on some much needed weight.

The weight-debate is not new in Hollywood, in fact it is the norm to see underfed celebs battle it out in gyms and go on ridiculous diets all in the quest to remain super-skinny. Each week, when the gossip mags hit newsstands, there are always celebs on the cover being scrutinised for being too fat or too thin. It seems that they can't win either way.

The funniest thing I read recently was Gwyneth Paltrow being interviewed by NW Magazine on her strict diet regime; she apparently swears that she maintains her super-skinny state by "only eating one solid meal per day and the rest of the time drinking coconut juice" Please! No wonder girls today have such warped ideas on body image and what constitutes a healthy diet.

It is extremely hard to not get caught up in all of this garbage. I am actually guilty of this myself and often compare my own thighs with Miranda Kerr's perfectly-skinny thighs and concluding that the only way I could ever look like that would be to just not eat. And fortunately that will never happen because I love food too much to ever go to such extreme lengths.

How do we create a sense of balance with these portrayals of unrealistic body images constantly being force fed by the media? I don't have  all of the answers but I do know that women need to stop being so critical of one another and start celebrating the fact that women come in all shapes and sizes.

I would love to know what you think of the weight-debate and if you have any ideas on how we can help younger girls to not get so caught up with this quest to remain super-skinny and start loving themselves for who they are.